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No COVID baby boom – only 1/50 considering having a baby

Pandemic fears may actually put people off of having children

There’s a certain nudge-nudge-wink-wink aimed at couples stuck at home for months in lockdown that they’d be filling their time by (ahem) trying for a baby.  

But it seems that many couples have made the decision not to conceive during the pandemic.

UK based stem cell storage company StemProtect.co.uk are predicting that a COVID baby boom isn’t going to happen, as indications show that the last thing people are thinking about during this global crisis is bringing new life into the world.

“It’s not going to happen, people are scared for their future, both health and financial,” says company spokesperson Mark Hall.

“With so much uncertainty in the world right now, people are more worried about their own outcomes after all this, let alone worry about supporting a child at the same time too.”

Boom or bust?

“If one more person says that my partner and I are going to come out of the pandemic with a child on the way, I’m going to scream,” says Hazel from Dorchester.

“We can’t afford a child right now and just because there isn’t much else going on, doesn’t mean we are ready to knock out a child because we are bored.”

Latest figures show that Hazel is not alone, as UK based StemProtect.co.uk surveyed 1200 customers online and found that only one in fifty couples are considering having a baby at this current moment.

In fact, it’s been predicted that there will be 75,000 fewer births expected due to the pandemic in the UK, which could potentially hold back the average national birth rate

Company spokesman Mark Hall says: “Covid-19 has bought huge waves of uncertainty for couples who were discussing the possibility of having a baby, because there is so much more to consider now such as potential unemployment, lack of savings and fear of contracting the virus.”

Over 80% of couples have said they would not try for a baby during the pandemic, and of those who were planning on trying, 21% have changed their minds largely due to financial instability and possible health complications.

And it’s not hard to see why couples may be worrying, with the unemployment rate in the UK projected to hit 4 million for the first time ever, and over 2.3 million people are currently claiming benefits.

Hall: “The initial concern at the start of the pandemic is that lockdown result in a huge surge of births in December and January which would overwhelm maternity wards, but it seems that finances and health concerns are preventing this from being the case.”

Staying child-free to save the world

There has already been a growing number of couples choosing not to have children, with pre-lockdown figures showing that over a third of Britons who are not already parents were saying that they never wanted to have children.

This trend has been growing from people worrying about being able to afford having a child and worrying about overpopulation and the impacts of climate change, with celebrity influencers such as Miley Cyrus saying she ‘refuses’ to have a baby with the world in its current state.

Gina and Connor from Bristol were unsure of having a child before the pandemic, “we were on the fence about having a child anyway because of global warming but seeing the global response to the threat of Coronavirus has put us off bringing new life into the world.”

Along with worrying about the state of the world and whether it’s ethical to have a child at the moment, many women often don’t want children until they feel it is the ‘right time’.

Company spokesman Mark Hall says, “Women tend to set milestones before having a child, such as settling into a job, being financially stable and owning a home – however Coronavirus may have caused a setback in these women’s plans resulting in fewer births.”

But there are still many who have found themselves expecting a new addition to the family during the lockdown period.

Charlotte from Gosport tells us, “Being pregnant while working from home has its advantages, I don’t have to hide my morning sickness and I don’t have overbearing colleagues constantly giving me baby advice and wanting to stroke my belly like they did with my first child.”

“But I’m still worried about the world I’ll be birthing my child into, because if we are in another lockdown I would be completely lost without the close support of my family and friends.”

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